Florida folly

THERE can be no dispute that the Government’s austerity programme is cutting deep into services which many people hold dear. Yet evidence is also emerging of the sheer scale of waste in some public organisations.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Apr 2011, 07:00 BST

Serious doubts remain about the decision to axe the regional development agency at a time when a body, like Yorkshire Forward, could be playing a pivotal role nurturing a new wave of private sector jobs.

As we report today, there can be little justification for this soon-to-be-abolished body spending £25,000 on a leisure and tourism training course run by global giant Disney. At least Yorkshire Forward bosses pulled back from their original plan to send 25 delegates to Florida. But the organisation undermines its own case by refusing to say what the course even involves. In doing so, this lack of clarity offers further ammunition to opponents in the Government who have been struggling to justify the abolition of the RDAs.

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At this time of financial stringency, every penny must be spent wisely. Public bodies should not be bureaucracies remote from the real world, spending cash on projects which fail to stand up to scrutiny.

Ask any tourist business in the region – rooted as they are in the realities of customer service – and they will be able, in all probability, to provide Yorkshire Forward with the expertise that its staff evidently require.

Related topics:GovernmentFloridaDisneyYorkshire